Religion Blog

NEW YORK — One-third of Americans reject the idea of evolution, and Republicans have grown more
skeptical about it, according to a poll released yesterday.

Sixty percent of Americans say, “Humans and other living things have evolved over time,” the
telephone survey by the Pew Research Center’s Religion and Public Life Project showed.

But 33 percent reject the idea of evolution, saying, “Humans and other living things have
existed in their present form since the beginning of time,” Pew said in a statement.

Although this percentage remained steady since 2009, the last time Pew asked the question, there
was a growing partisan gap on whether humans evolved.

“The gap is coming from the Republicans, where fewer are now saying that humans have evolved
over time,” said Cary Funk, a Pew senior researcher who conducted the analysis.

The poll showed 43 percent of Republicans and 67 percent of Democrats say humans have evolved
over time, compared with 54 percent and 64 percent, respectively, four years ago.

Among religious groups, white evangelical Protestants topped the list of those rejecting
evolution, with 64 percent of those polled saying they believe humans have existed in their present
form since the beginning of time.

A quarter of those surveyed told Pew, “A supreme being guided the evolution of living
things."

The survey of 1,983 adults in all states was conducted from March 21 to April 8. The margin of
error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.